Tamworth news

Tamworth News.

June ‘07

Erin’s piglets arrived on the 29^th of May & are thriving, thanks to the good weather they have been blessed with. There are 3 girls & 5 boys and they have been roaming around the paddock since they were just 3 days old.

Jenny & Gordon are now back in the first paddock, nearest to the village, as the bracken is already making a determined come-back here. Hopefully a second summer’s rooting around will discourage it and allow grasses, wild flowers etc. to get established.

We have finally tracked down a litter of Gloucester Old Spots, which were born on the 18^th of June, & have placed an order for 2 girls who should be weaned and coming here in the middle of August. Here’s hoping the weather remains kind to both pigs and people ‘til then & beyond!

Lately our pigs have been in the blues. By jiminy they have been worried. Concerns had been raised about the environmental impact that their activities were having on Carsaig Glen and on the water quality of Carsaig Burn. No stone was left unturned. SEPA, SEERAD, DEFRA and the Forestry Commission all duly turned out to investigate Jenny, Erin and Gordon's activities. Environmental impacts were assessed and future implications contemplated. So impressed were all of these statutory bodies by our pigs' contribution to the regeneration of native woodlands that they were allowed not only to continue as before but also granted approval to move onto a much larger area than had previously been envisaged. This verdict was not, of course, any surprise to us, Carsaig Estate or the estate management. We already knew that wild orchids could not drag our pigs into causing environmental damage.

Since last writing, Jenny's piglets have all been weaned and sold on. The female piglet is now our first addition to the official Tamworth herd book as her new owners plan to keep her on as a breeding sow. Erin is expecting another litter in late May, so we should have piglets up the glen throughout June and also for the first half of July. The larger area which our pigs have been allocated has allowed us to consider increasing the herd size. We plan to get two more sows, one Tamworth and one Gloucester Old Spot, another rare traditional breed. As ever, visitors are most welcome but do wear your wellies as the road is a trifle muddy.

This page is here to tell the whole world about our little herd of Tamworth pigs , and to keep

We hope that locals and visitors alike will feel free to go and pay the pigs a visit. Their

paddocks are on the right hand side as you follow the burn up Carsaig glen. They are always

pleased to see people ( unless they are asleep ) , so you can expect quite a noisy reception.

At the time of writing Jenny pig has 9 piglets which were born on the 8th of February.

These piglets will be weaned in April when they will be sold , or moved , onto their own

patch of ground away from their mother. Most of our piglets will end up as pork and

bacon but , being registered pedigree pigs , we hope that a few will be bought for breeding.

The primary purpose of the pigs up Carsaig glen is to root up and clear the dense bracken.

This bracken is preventing the successful seeding and re-growth of native trees which the

landowners , Gong Hill estate , are attempting to re-establish all over this area. Once the

pigs' paddock is reduced to something resembling a ploughed field , with all of the vegetation

cleared , then the pigs are moved on and the ground left to recover. A paddock which is

vacated any time from autumn through to early spring should recover quickly when the

weather warms up so that by July the new growth should be vigorous enough to support

the introduction of grazing animals such as sheep or goats. Some bracken will inevitably

return , as this is a particularly tenacious plant , so the pigs will probably need to be

re-introduced in another year or so to have another go at it. This process can be repeated

as often as necessary until the bracken finally gives up the ghost. If you take a look

around you on a trip up the glen you will see enough dense bracken to keep our pigs busy